2017 Celebration Bowl

2017 Celebration Bowl
3rd Celebration Bowl
1234 Total
Grambling State 0707 14
North Carolina A&T 0777 21
DateDecember 16, 2017
Season2017
StadiumMercedes-Benz Stadium
LocationAtlanta, Georgia
MVPOffense: #22 RB Marquell Cartwright, NC A&T
Defense: #29 CB Franklin "Mac" McCain III, NC A&T
FavoriteNorth Carolina A&T (by 9.5 pts)
National anthemJekalyn Carr
RefereeJay Edwards (C-USA)
Halftime showBlue and Gold Marching Machine
GSU Tiger Marching Band
Attendance25,873[1]
PayoutUS$1,000,000 (Per Conference)
United States TV coverage
NetworkABC
RedVoice, LLC
AnnouncersMark Neely, Jay Walker, & Tiffany Greene (ABC)
Sam Crenshaw, Randy McMichael, & Lericia Harris (RedVoice)
Nielsen ratings1.59 (Viewers)[2]
Celebration Bowl
 < 2016  2018

The 2017 Celebration Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game that was played on December 16, 2017 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. This third Celebration Bowl game matched the champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, against the champion of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the two historically black division I conferences. The event was the finale of the 2017 FCS football season for both conferences as neither had teams earn an at large selections into the NCAA Division I FCS football playoffs and their champions abstain from the tournament.

The game kicked off at 12:00 PM (EST) and was televised live on ABC, as the kickoff game to the 2017 Bowl season.[3] ESPN Events was the organizer of the game, while the 100 Black Men of Atlanta managed the game's ancillary events. The #7th ranked North Carolina A&T Aggies won the game, beating #13th ranked Grambling State Tigers by the score of 21–14, claiming the 2017 black college football national championship

  1. ^ "Grambling vs. North Carolina A&T - Game Summary - December 16, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  2. ^ Marshall, Kendrick (December 19, 2017). "2017 Celebration Bowl: Television rating down from last season's matchup". HBCU Sports. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  3. ^ "2017 Celebration Bowl to Open Bowl Season on ABC – Celebration Bowl". www.thecelebrationbowl.com. Retrieved November 14, 2017.